


Thanks, Dad

by madlysanecatlady



Series: Gladnis Week Works [7]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fake Dating, First Kiss, Fluff, Gladnis, Gladnis Week, Gladnis Week 2018, M/M, clarus is a bro tho, this is really dumb im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 17:24:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15778668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madlysanecatlady/pseuds/madlysanecatlady
Summary: In which Clarus is a total bro wingman.Ignis is dealing with a pretty persistent visiting dignitary. Gladio offers to play up a fake relationship to try and dissuade him. They're actually jus idiots.





	Thanks, Dad

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** Fake dating
> 
> I love bro Clarus. I think I have a crush on that mental image.

Gladio was honestly rather worried when he didn’t find Ignis in his office after he stopped by after morning drills as he usually did. He could count the number of times this had happened on one hand, and none of those times had ever really boded well. Taking in a deep breath to stay calm, Gladio sent him a text asking if he was in a meeting or something.

_No, not exactly. I’m in the courtyard. Please do join me if you have the time._

The reply came almost immediately, much to Gladio’s relief, yet he couldn’t help but feel like the message was something of a cry for help. He wasn’t quite sure why it felt that way, but still Gladio fell into a brisk walk in the direction of the courtyard garden he knew Ignis sometimes enjoyed spending some time in, heading quickly into a rescue he wasn’t even sure was needed.

He found Ignis sitting on his favourite bench in the garden with a young man Gladio had never seen before. The young man had the distinct air about him of someone who came from money and wanted everyone to know it, starting in his carefully coiffed-black hair, heading down to the expensive designer clothing, and culminating in his clear sense of superiority he disguised as good posture. Gladio instantly decided he probably wouldn’t like him. His eyes fell to Ignis, whose spine was so rigid Gladio had no doubt in his mind that he was supremely uncomfortable, spurring Gladio forward.

‘Hey Iggy,’ he said by way of announcing his presence, hand falling to Ignis’ shoulder. He noticed the way the other man’s expression darkened at that and held back a frown. ‘I was worried when you weren’t in your office, what’s up?’

‘Ah, good morning Gladio,’ Ignis smiled up at him, his relief almost palpable as it rolled off him in waves. ‘This is Mister Gregory Leguardia , an envoy from Tenebrae. Mister Leguardia, this is Gladiolus Amicitia, the Shield to his Highness.’ He looked up at Gladio. ‘Mister Leguardia was just requesting some advice on where he should dine for lunch. What was the name of the place we went the other night? It was simply divine.’ He reached out and grabbed Gladio’s forearm briefly in a way that could only be described as intimate.

Gladio was lucky he was pretty quick to catch on to most things, otherwise he’d be really confused by Ignis’ behaviour. As it was, he rather quickly sussed out that Ignis was really trying to play up a close, even romantic relationship between them for this Leguardia guy. Gladio was probably dead-on about his earlier assessment and he was a rich snoot who was coming on to Ignis and simply wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Gladio could practically see Ignis begging him to play along with his ruse as he looked up at him with big eyes. Gladio was all too happy to comply.

‘Oh yeah! It was called Bistro Barium,’ Gladio rested his hand casually back onto Ignis’ shoulder, watching with satisfaction as Leguardia eyed the hand sourly. ‘Yeah, we loved it. It was really _our_ ambiance wasn’t it Iggy? Nice and quiet, really cozy.’

Ignis smiled brightly, seeming immensely pleased that Gladio was so quick on the uptake. ‘It was splendid, yes.’ He turned to Leguardia with a much stiffer smile. ‘Yes, you should certainly give it a try. I’m sure my uncle could give you directions after you’ve finished with your meeting this morning. Er… was there anything else you needed?’

‘Well, I was hoping to have some accompaniment,’ Leguardia seemed completely undeterred from whatever his intentions were for Ignis. ‘I’m sure you can appreciate just how imposing dining alone in a strange city might be for a man.’

‘Er, well…’ Ignis appeared to be floundering for a polite way to decline when he was saved from needing to reply by the arrival of his uncle.

‘Ah Ignis, I see you’re still providing dear Gregory here with proper Insomnian hospitality. Wonderful.’

‘Ah, yes of course, Alphonse, Ignis has been such a charming companion to me this morning,’ Leguardia smiled a fake sweet smile Gladio had a strong urge to smack right off his face. ‘I was actually just trying to convince him to join me for lunch after our meetings have concluded this morning.’

‘Oh yes, of course we should all go to lunch,’ the senior Scientia nodded eagerly, seeming completely oblivious to his nephew’s discomfort. ‘I’m sure Ignis can make some time in his very busy schedule for you today.’ Gladio watched Ignis’ expression turn almost panicked before his uncle continued. ‘Gladiolus, will you be joining us as well? It is always a blessing to have you in our midst.’

Gladio gave his most charming smile, honestly taking a ridiculous amount of pleasure in the sour look that settled onto Leguardia’s face at the invitation. ‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Mister Scientia.’

‘Wonderful,’ Alphonse smiled. He turned to Leguardia. ‘Well, we’ve got our meeting with his Majesty to get to, but why don’t we all meet back right here at noon so we can all go together?’

‘Of course, uncle,’ Ignis nodded obediently. ‘It’s been a pleasure, Mister Leguardia. I shall see you later, I suppose.’

‘Oh how I _do_ look forward to that,’ Leguardia said in such a flirtatious tone that Gladio had to actually remind himself he couldn’t punch him he was so mad about the visible discomfort on his best friend’s face. ‘I _do_ hope I’ll be able to convince you to drop the formalities with me and simply call me Gregory.’

‘I think you’ll find that my nephew is quite difficult to convince to drop formalities,’ Alphonse chuckled. ‘How long did it take you, Gladiolus?’

‘ _Years_ , probably,’ Gladio shrugged. ‘Iggy was one tough nut to crack, but I’d do it again a hundred times.’

‘And they had to become practically inseparable before Ignis would ever deign to drop formal titles,’ Alphonse added. ‘So please do not take Ignis’ stubborn rigidity to mean he does not like you.’

Leguardia smiled widely. ‘Oh, I’m sure I’ll have him completely charmed and comfortable with me by day’s end. It’s been an absolute pleasure, Ignis. Good to meet you, Mr. Amicitia. Shall we, Alphonse?’

With that, Alphonse ushered Leguardia away, leaving Gladio to flop onto the bench next to Ignis. He reached out and rubbed his friend’s back soothingly, happy to see his almost painfully stiff spine finally relaxing a little.

‘Lemme guess, that guy would just not stop hitting on you no matter what you said and you really couldn’t find another out without just saying you’ve already got a boyfriend?’ Gladio sighed. ‘Sorry I couldn’t rescue you earlier.’

‘ _Thank you_ for catching on so quickly and playing along, Gladio,’ Ignis said seriously. ‘He is simply _awful_. What I say doesn’t matter to him _at all_. He just kept trying to convince me to go on a date with him. I got desperate and simply told him I have a boyfriend and he didn’t really believe me. I’m sorry I’ve dragged you into this.’

‘Naw, Iggy, it’s ok,’ Gladio tossed his arm around Ignis’s shoulders. ‘It’s not every day I get to date someone so outta my league, even if it’s only pretend.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Ignis rolled his eyes. ‘If anyone’s attempting to punch out of their weight class, it’s me.’

‘Agree to disagree on that one, Mister Perfect,’ Gladio laughed. ‘Okay, so let’s establish everything. We’ve been dating what, two years? That’s believable and substantial enough for him to probably back off right? Our first date was… hmm.’

‘A concert,’ Ignis supplied helpfully. ‘The Lucian Orchestra.’

‘Genius, Iggy,’ Gladio grinned. ‘We _did_ go to that. Okay, great. Uhh… so what else. Like how should I act? You and PDA are probably not all that believable, huh? So I guess you won’t have to suffer through kissing me or anything like that.’

‘I wouldn’t say so at all,’ Ignis went red even as the words came tumbling out of his mouth. He paused, giving himself time to properly formulate his next sentence. ‘I’m perfectly capable of affection.’

‘Of course Iggy, but like, you _are_ basically the crowned prince of primness, aren’t you?’ Gladio stared at his blushing friend curiously. ‘Uhh, Iggy… never mind,’ he thought better of what he wanted to say and went silent. How stupid would he have to be to actually suggest they have a practise kiss just in case? That was a ridiculous, duplicitous excuse, and Gladio wasn’t going to have it.

‘What?’ Ignis looked to him curiously.

‘I just thought… I dunno, never mind it was stupid,’ Gladio shook his head, remaining firm; he was not about to take advantage of Ignis’ situation like that.

‘Nothing you ever say is stupid, Gladio.’

‘S’why I didn’t say it,’ Gladio laughed. ‘Okay, yeah, we can do this. I can be pretty convincing in this. Hell, it might even be a lot of fun watching him get all pissy.’

Ignis rolled his eyes. ‘Certainly. _Fun._ ’

 

* * *

 

Fun was the furthest from what Gladio thought he would be having when he showed up to the garden bench to see that Alphonse appeared to have invited Gladio’s father to lunch with them. _Great_ , yet another moving part to a tenuous plan. Thinking quickly, he pulled out his phone and thumbed out a quick pleading text to his father.

Clarus’ phone buzzed and he looked down at the message. He looked up after a roll of his eyes, but nodded at his son. Gladio felt himself relax instantly. Clarus would have proven to be quite the complication, as he would not hesitate to question his son if he was behaving oddly. Alphonse was a very smart man, but incredibly oblivious when it came to other people, so he really wouldn’t prove to be much of a problem. For all Gladio knew, he’d just agree and go along with it, believing every single word of it.

Ignis smiled at Gladio, obviously having caught the exchange between father and son. Gladio smiled back and held out his hand, honestly a little surprised when Ignis took it without a moment’s hesitation. He felt an odd tingling travelling up his arm and to the butterflies in his stomach from the spot where their palms met. He swallowed. Now was _definitely_ not the time to revisit the confusing feelings he had for his best friend. Now was the time to help him out; he could sort the rest out with himself later.

Alphonse led the way, thankfully capturing Leguardia in conversation with him about how he was liking his experience as a first-time envoy to Insomnia. Gladio was quite thankful for that, as he didn’t think he could concentrate on any of his bullshit while he was so busy memorising the feel of Ignis’ hand inside his own. He _did_ , however, notice the furtive glances from his father every so often, but really didn’t have the brain power to care about that at the moment; he was too busy trying to keep his heart from beating straight out of his chest.

Ignis squeezed his hand lightly, watching him closely. He leaned in to whisper into his ear, doing nothing to quieten the beating of his heart, and really only adding to the problem by causing a flush to rise up his cheeks. ‘Are you alright, Gladio? If this is too much to ask, I understand.’

‘No, Iggy, don’t you dare,’ Gladio whispered back. ‘This is gonna _work_.’

‘ _Thank you_ ,’ Ignis forgot himself for a moment and pressed a kiss to Gladio’s red cheek, making it go almost purple from blood rushing to it. ‘Oh, I’m _so_ sorry. I got carried away.’ His whisper was hoarse from embarrassment.

‘Naw, you’re my boyfriend, right?’ Gladio said under his breath after a pause to steady himself. ‘Totally normal.’ Gladio looked up in time to see his father rolling his eyes at him again, and shot him a questioning look. Clarus snorted and pulled out his phone.

Gladio’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out to read his father’s message.

_Just kiss him already. He obviously loves you back._

Gladio felt stupid for pulling the message out while Ignis was so close; he could obviously read it from where he was walking next to him. He felt a tight squeeze in his hand and turned to see Ignis looking at him curiously, his head cocked slightly to the side. Gladio sighed and nodded, guessing the question passing through Ignis’ mind was something along the lines of ‘is that true; you love me?’

Ignis smiled brightly and paused mid-step, pulling Gladio to a stop with him. Clarus looked over his shoulder at his son and winked, ushering the other two men along towards the bistro.

‘I guess… I guess I should come clean that I’ve had the hots for yo–’ Gladio was completely cut off by Ignis pressing their lips together, completely disregarding the fact that they were in the middle of a sidewalk in the crowded administrative district of Insomnia during lunch hour.

The world completely ground to a halt around Gladio the second Ignis’ lips touched his. It was better than even his best fantasies had even come close to. Ignis’ lips were silky soft against his own, trembling a little before Ignis pulled away and opened shining green eyes to look at Gladio.

‘I don’t think you understand how happy that makes me,’ Ignis said quietly, unable to wipe the wide smile off his face.

‘Yeah, Iggy, I think I understand perfectly,’ Gladio smiled back. ‘So… I guess this means we’re not fake boyfriends anymore?’

‘Oh goodness no, this is very, _very_ real,’ Ignis chuckled. ‘But I suppose the first official date will need to wait until after this fiasco of a day comes to an end and I’m free of _him_.’

‘Hmm, I can shoo him off,’ Gladio offered and Ignis rolled his eyes and shook his head before they started back up the street to catch up with the others, hands linking back together rather naturally. Gladio loved it, he never wanted to walk down another street without Ignis’ hand in his again. Ignis squeezed his hand as though he’d read his mind and agreed.

They made it into the bistro just as the others were sitting down, joining them seamlessly. Clarus looked to his son innocently. ‘Issue all sorted out, son?’

‘Yeah,’ Gladio smiled, but was kind of a little annoyed it was his father who’d seen through them both. He knew he would be in for some merciless teasing later. ‘Thanks, dad.’

Clarus smiled back, before turning his attention to his menu. ‘You’re welcome, son.’


End file.
